The smallest town in Bulgaria nestles in its southwestern corner, not far from the border with Greece. This is the beautiful Melnik with its centuries-old plane trees, two rows of renaissance houses along the river and population that can fit in 2 – 3 buses. The town’s architecture and fragrant wine /favorite to Winston Churchill/ are well-known abroad. The great British politician ordered “melnishko bile” each year. However, there is a tavern in Melnik that can be called the one of poets, wine and love. “They call it the nice tavern –for nice people only,” says witty owner Uncle Iliya, a poet and philosopher – a person of spirit. Poets, artists, actors and all kinds of bohemians visit the place. It is a place for jokes, fun and wine – the so-called Love Wine, named also Bed-Breaker. One can order Mutsi Cheese, while the main dishes are Beans-in-Butter and Smart Lamb Heads with Large Brain and Long Tongue. We drink “for and after the crisis”, the witty host laughs. He shows a personal photo with the grandmaster of love lyrics Evtim Evtimov, signed on the back with the following: “To great poet Ilia Garchev from his personal bartender Evtim Evtimov”. Their friendship started with the poetic evenings in Melnik, where the greatest poets of Bulgaria, Greece and Macedonia used to meet.

“I have great memories with Evtim Evtimov,” Uncle Ilia says. “There was a gathering of poets one night and Evtim came along with colleagues. They drank, they felt good and started to recite. It was an unforgettable evening. Different musicians have also been here and their renditions create nice atmosphere, some good mood. However, not everyone can feel the spirit of the tavern. Whenever I come upon nice people, I say “I wish I lived 300 years and spent those as a pub owner!”

Uncle Ilia has inherited his mastery and original thinking style from his grandfather and his father Ivan Garchev, the most famous cinema distributor in the region. Uncle Ilia has been running the pub, favorite to poets for 23 years:

“I inherited it from my grandfather and my father. Those were quite poor, when they got married, they didn’t even have forks and spoons. At the same time my grandpa was a very persistent entrepreneur. He was a photographer, he knew how to cure animals – mules, goats, sheep. He also had an inn at his ground floor, where he constructed a quite primitive, bur very progressive at that time device – it made lemonade. It was like selling coca-cola nowadays. However, communists nationalized the shop. I was 5 years old and I had a small, three-wheeled bicycle. Even that bike was inventoried, along with all our property. My grandfather continued with agriculture, while my father went into film distribution. In the era with no electricity he found a huge power unit, dismantled in three pieces. He would mount those on mules and travel around the villages. People got amazed, they couldn’t wait for the end of the day and the screening. My father devoted over 30 years to cinema – people loved him and some of them still remember him.”

The old tavern’s interior has preserved the spirit of Bulgarian lifestyle and traditions.

“All the stuff, hanging on the walls, comes from the family – plates for bread, cakes; the churn over there used to spend all its time on the cooker in my childhood, when we had no heaters…”

The tavern attracts nowadays lots of tourists too. The table in front reads: “We welcome guests; we send friends!” Lots of foreigners visit the place in July and August – Czechs, Poles, Frenchmen, Americans, Asians. They come to taste the famous broad-leaf Melnik vine sort of wine, Uncle Ilia is proud to say. His pain however is that the Bulgarians get poorer and cannot enjoy the beauties of their land:

“People will die, without seeing Melnik. Others have already seen outer space, while Bulgarians can’t even afford to visit my town, which is not at the seaside…“ Uncle Ilia says, staying optimistic at the same time – something compulsory for the tavern of poets, wine and love…

English version: Zhivko Stanchev